Nine Drinks Regions Worth Travelling For
Some trips are planned around a city, some around a beach. These are planned around a glass — and each region has its own season, rhythm and way of receiving visitors. Here’s how they compare.
For sparkling and cellars
Champagne — chalk cellars under Reims and Épernay, 45 minutes from Paris by train. Best April to October.
For wine at its most precise
Burgundy — Beaune, the Côte d’Or and the Hospices auction in November. Tuscany — Chianti, Montalcino and Montepulciano, with farm stays and long lunches.
For whiskey
Kentucky — the Bourbon Trail from Louisville to Bardstown. Ireland — Dublin’s revived distilleries and Midleton in Cork.
For something different
Oaxaca — family palenques, wild agave and one of Mexico’s great food cities. Marseille — pastis on the Vieux-Port and the Calanques. Stockholm and Southern Sweden — snaps songs, a museum of spirits and vodka country in Skåne.
Planning any of them
Book visits ahead, keep to two or three tastings a day, and decide how you’ll get around before you arrive — our no-driving guide is the place to start.
Journeys to plan next
Water of Life: A Journey Through Irish Whiskey
From Dublin’s revived distilleries to Midleton in Cork — the Irish whiskey route, planned properly.
Stockholm for Drinks Lovers: Snaps, Spritmuseum and Swedish Drinking Culture
Snaps songs, a museum of spirits and a state-run liquor store — Stockholm’s drinks culture explained.
Marseille and Pastis: Drinking the Aperitif of Provence
Anise, water and a long lunch by the Vieux-Port — pastis in its home city.